Multiple bulb electric lantern



Dec. 23, 1952 c. w. cRUMRlNE ET AL 2,623,158

MULTIPLE BULB ELECTRIC LANTERN Filed May 3, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet l 30 29 35 i 76 32 31 l 7 I;

3&4 guy CITIESTER W CRUMRINIE BERWIJ W JACOBS I NVENTORS BY Cam/Kw ATTORNEY Dec. 23, 1952 c. w. CRUMRINE ET AL 2,623,158

MULTIPLE BULB ELECTRIC LANTERN Filed ma s, 1948 a Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2. I 70 38 72 74 O IlJlIIlIlIIIlI/II CHESTER W. CRUMRINE BERWJN W- JACOBS INVENTORS ATTORNEY BY M Dec. 23, 1952 c. w. CRUMRINE ET AL 2,623,158

MULTIPLE BULB ELECTRIC LANTERN Filed May 3, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 CHESTER W. CRUYVRIALE BERWlN W. JACOBS INVENTORS ATTO NEY improvement.

Patented Dec. 23, 1952 MULTIPLE BULB ELECTRIC LANTERN Chester W. Crumrine, Irondequoit, and Berwin W. Jacobs, Pittsford, N. Y.; said Crumrine assignor to said Jacobs Application May 3, 1948, Serial No. 24,694

The present invention relates to lanterns and more particularly to electric hand lanterns of the sturdier type used in railroading, both on trains and in the yard, and it has for its general object to improve and promote the overall construction, convenience, durability and dependability of lanterns of this type to the ends of achieving both greater safety and greater economy in their use for signaling and other general purposes.

In lanterns of this type it has heretofore been suggested that twin bulbs be used so that when one fails, because of a broken filament or other cause, the other may be quickly shifted to its place in optical focus on the battery circuit contact without the necessity of inserting and securing it individually in a socket. But, as the reserve strength of the battery is seldom checked before failure, if the fault lies, instead, in the low voltage of the battery, the fresh bulb, being identical with its predecessor, contributes little if any On the other hand, the switches commonly used for closing and breaking the lighting circuit are of the sliding block type and tend, by causing excessive vibration, to blow either the hot or cold filament when the switch is snapped back and forth. This latter is particularly true when the filament has become weakened so that the operator is left with a solitary bulb of uncertain service potential. Furthermore, there is no means of telling which bulb has had the greater previous use and should be used up before the other fresher reserve bulb is called upon. Both may be near the breaking point, in which case they will both burn out in turn, particularly upon the insertion of a new and strong battery at such a time, leaving no light source at all.

It is an object of this invention to provide a lantern having multiple bulbs of graded voltage and light giving capacity that may be selectively brought into optical focus with respect to the lantern globe or reflector whereby not only the intensity of the light desired may be produced for the purpose at hand with a fresh battery but 11 Claims. (Cl. 240-10.63)

tery circuit smoothly and automatically when it reaches operative optical position.

A further object is to provide means whereby, without visual inspection, the user will be able to determine quickly which one of the graded bulbs is in operative position, thus avoiding the possible confusion and uncertainty incident to mere visual comparison, as for example when the beam of a high voltage bulb used on a strong battery may be almost indistinguishable from the beam of a low voltage bulb used on a weak battery.

Another object of the invention is to eliminate and replace the hand switch referred to by controlling lighting circuit contacts through the mere manipulation of the lantern itself requiring the use of only one hand and, further, to accomplish the selection of the desired bulb or a trial bulb in the same way.

These and other desirable objects are accomplished by the construction disclosed as an illustive embodiment of the invention in the following description and in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical central sectional view of an electric hand lantern constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of this invention, the bail or handle and other parts being shown partially broken away and the lantern being. in a normal upright position;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlargement of the showing of Fig. l in the region of the active bulb position and the terminals and circuit contacts thereof;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the greared indexing assembly and rotary bulb turret, partially in horizontal section substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. l, the turret and the bulbs being shown in bottom plan;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section substantially on the line d4 of Fig. 1 through the rotary bulb turret and showing the globe securing element in bottom plan; and

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the complete lantern, the globe being. partly broken away and partly in horizontal section.

The same reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

To give first a general idea of the construction and mode of operation of the present embodiment of the invention, the lantern comprises two major parts, namely, an upper casing containing the battery and a lower guard portion acting as a base upon which the casing rests. These two have cooperating marginal bearings upon which they are relatively movable for partial rotation. The bottom of the container constitutes a stage from which depend through the open center of the guard base a globe, symmetrical with respect to the axis of rotation aforesaid, and also a plural lamp socket turret eccentric to that axis. The rotatable turret is. geared to mesh with a gear ring constituting the top of the base so that as the latter and the battery casing are turned relatively, selected lamp socket-s and their lamps are caused to move, successively, into the geometrical and optical axis of the globe and. become energized from the battery, this operative position being also in the rotational axis of the casing and guard.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is an open wire guard serving as. a base when the lantern rests erect, as is normal. The

axis. A gasket 64 cemented to the ceiling plate constitutes a seat that cushions the contact of the globe edge.

The plurality of electric light bulbs A, B, and C are carried in screw sockets 66 formed in a cylindrical turret 88 of electrical conducting material, the socket for lamp C at the end of the series being shown in section in Figs. 1 and 2. The turret terminates at the top in a gear 10 exceeding it in diameter and thus providing a lateral support by which the turret is hung from the ceiling plate 40 thus putting the bulb sockets on the grounded side of the lighting circuit. This guard comprises upright Wire legs I0, the bottom attached to its sides on spring tensioned pivots '24. The battery fits closely within the casing I 8, with which latter its own casing makes the usual terminal contact forming a secondary ground side of the circuit throughout the general structure. The bottom 38 of casing i8 is provided with a marginal annular bearing rib 28 complementary to and fitting within the bearings M of the base ring [2 upon which the casing I8 is thereby centered to rotate. Just above the rib is a circumferential head 29 and below it a rubber or similar packing ring 3| to protect the bearing and furnish a rain and water shed. The other terminal ill! on the bottom of the battery 26 rests upon a central contact 32 establishing the other side of the circuit to the lamps, which contact will be later explained. A double leaf spring 34 riveted to the cover 23 at 35 maintains the battery snug against vibration and tends to press its bottom terminal against the contact. The remainder of the dome-like space beneath the cover may be utilized for the storage of extra light bulbs (not shown).

The bottom 33 of easing l8 constitutes a stage from which, in conjunction with guard ring l2, upon which it rests, depend the lighting and reflecting optical combinations all of which turn bodily with the stage as the casing is rotated on the guard base. To this end, a ceiling plate 46 (Fig. 4) is bolted at 42 to the casing stage 38 with a segmental or moon-shaped relatively thick spacing plate 56 intervening to preserve freedom for relative movement of the guard ring, as so confined, between this ceiling plate and the stage as well as other parts hereinafter described. Depending from the left margin of this ceiling plate are ears 43 to receive the spring tensioned trunnion terminals 28 of a retaining and supporting upwardly and downwardly swinging ring 59 for a lantern globe another extension or tongue 54 on the plate til forms a spring latch 5e engaging a finger piece loop 58 on the ring. The globe, in the present showing, is a Fresnel globe embodying lens formations Ed and prismatic reflecting portions 62. The focal point is, of course, on the central At the opposite side,

gear, resting on top of the ceiling plate while the turret extends through a suitable opening therein, has an insulating disk 12 cemented thereon that is accommodated in a shallow dome i4 struck up in the. bottom 38 of the upper casing is so that gear 16 occupies the same horizontal plane with guard ring it with which it meshes as hereinafter described.

The-turret 68 turns-on a stud l6 riveted to the casing bottom 38 but ofiset from the axis of the lantern.

The three lamp sockets and their lamp connections are equally spaced around the turret and are identical in construction so that a description of the one shown in section in Figs. 1 and will suffice for all. The threaded portion or socket proper is part of a bore that extends all the way through the-turret to'the insulating wear disk if! on top of gear l6. Contact 32, before referred to, is carried in an apertured further raised portion 1'8 ondome 74 by being headed over a shouldered insulating disk as on the bottom or inside and over an insulating \t'asher 2 4 on the top. Pressing against the lower head of the contact 32 is a flanged thimble 3-2 extending through disk 12 and guided in an insulating sleeve 84 in the upper part of the bore, which sleeve in turn rests on an insulating washer 86 abutting a shoulder 87 in the bore. A similar but inverted thimble 99 projects downwardly through a hole in the washer 87 and makes contact with the central terminal 88 of the light bulb. An expansion coil spring 92 compressed between the two thimbles causes them to hug their respective contacts and also transmit current on that side of the circuit. When not in operation or on position against contact 32, the upper thimble 82 rides idly against the insulating member 36 or, when moved far enough away from the contact 32, against the bottom 38 of the upper casing. But when the turret 68 is turned to bring a selected lamp socket into alignment with the contact rivet 32, the upper thimble 82 of that socket slides smoothly from the insulating block 89 onto the flat bottom surface of the rivet 32 (which is flush with the bottom surface of the insulating block 8 3) thus establishing the circuit smoothly and without shock or vibration. It will be seen from Fig. 2 that the diameter of the upper end of the thimble 82 is less than the radial distance between the contact rivet 32 and the edge of the metal shoulder around the insulating washer Bil, so that at no time in the rotary movement of the turret it can the thimble make simultaneous contact with the member 32 and with the metal plate l4, whic would cause a short circuit of the battery.

The turret 68 carrying the three equally spaced bulb sockets 66 and light bulbs A. and (7 utilized to select for use any one of the series of three bulbs in the following manner:

The turret gear has six widely spaced teeth. one opposite each bulb and one centrally of each space between them. These mesh with an equal number of blind teeth 96 formed internally on the ring l2 of the guard assembly which is, to that extent, an interrupted internal ring gear. But the teeth 96 are not continuous, being distributed on only a segment of the inner circumference of the ring so that the ring can drive the gear just so far in either direction, there to be reversed to repeat the movement in the opposite direction. A laterally projecting pin 91 on the turret engages the two ends of a stop flange 99 struck down from ceiling plate in and establishes these limits of movement. A leaf spring 98 having its bent ends I00 anchored in notches I02 in the spacing plate 44 has a depression I04 at its center into which successive teeth of the turret gear It will snap after first displacing and bowing the spring as the gear ID is rotated in either direction by the ring gear 12. A tooth is shown so engaged in Fig. 3 and this engagement centers bulb C opposite thereto in the axis of the lantern, namely, in the operative or on position with its contact in circuit to battery contact 30 exactly as shown in Fig. l. The next tooth, being opposite a blank space between the bulbs, will, when reaching the detent spring, center the turret with all bulbs out of the axis and out of contact; then when the next tooth is engaged in the spring detent I94, the bulb B will be properly centered in the on or lit position, and so on. When a tooth so engages the spring, a temporary or yielding resistance will not only be felt by the operator signaling that an on or off position has been reached, but a distinct click will be heard to audibly register that fact, which audible signal is a feature of this invention.

The cycle of on and off positions is as follows:

With the guard ill and its gear ring l2 in a fixed position such as results from pressing it and the lantern against the ground by means of the bail 22, and assuming that the upper structure [8 has been rotated as far as it will go clockwise or to the right, all bulbs will be off and successive twists of the wrist will turn the casing counterclockwise for these sequences:

Position 1.-All bulbs off; stop pin 91 engaged against one end of the stop flange 99.

Position 2.First click to the left, or counterclockwise rotation of the lantern body relative to the stationary wire guard; bulb A lit or on.

Position 3.-Second click to the left; all bulbs off.

Position 4.--Third click to the left; bulb B lit or (On-,7

Position 5.-Fourth click to the left; all bulbs off.

Position 6.--Fifth click to the left; bulb C lit or on, and stop pin 91 in contact with opposite end of the stop flange 99, preventing further leftward rotation.

Figs. 1 and 3 show the parts in or sixth position.

Of course, at any position or stage in this sequence, the motion may be reversed for one or more clicks for a desired selection, but one thing the user knows is that when he turns the parts to the above starting position, all circuits are broken, while at the other extreme bulb C should be burning. If not, he can back-track and try the other bulbs successively and by counting the clicks and the yielding resistances he always knows how his circuits are and where his bulbs are.

With present experience, it is preferred that bulb A have a filament and voltage adapting it for long time constant burning in general usage;

the last named 6 that bulb B be such as cast a brighter light for intermittent use, as for flagging or signalling purposes; and that bulb C be essentially an emergency bulb giving a brilliant light even on low voltage, when the battery becomes weak. This bulb C has the voltage characteristics to give a light output on a weak battery equal to that of one of its companion bulbs on a new battery, for short periods or at times of extreme necessity. For the responsible job of signalling, particularly, this field of selection provides a valuable safety factor.

For example, assuming that the battery 26 is ofthe type having an initial or new voltage rating of 5 volts, the normal use bulb A may be designed to operate efiioiently at 5 volts, drawing a moderate current which will not be a serious drain on the battery. The bulb B is preferably a bulb designed to draw a larger current at a lower voltage, say 4 volts for example. The extreme emergency bulb C is preferably designed to provide a brilliant light on an even lower voltage, say 3 volts, (although it will not burn out upon moderate use at the initial battery power 915 volts) and thus may be used for emergency flagging when the battery is so far run down that the bulbs A and B will not light at all or will glow only faintly.

. Again, the graded bulb capacities avoid using up battery current needlessly. There would be no point in using the higher powered bulb B, so efficient in signalling, for ordinary work at which bulb A, using a lesser current, would be adequate. The lantern is normally used in the conventional upright position shown, with the side lens portions 60 of the globe 52 casting light laterally and the bottom lens downwardly, but it may of course be used horizontally for particular purposes by pointing with the bottom lens. In any event, selecting the bulbs and turning them on admirably fulfilled. It is to be understood that the foregoing disclosure is given by way of illustrative example only, rather than by way of limitation, and that without departing from the invention, the details may be varied within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

' 1. In an electric lantern, the combination with a lower guard portion including a ring gear and an upper battery with a carrying portion therefor rotatable on the guard portion, of a rotary turret depending from the battery carrying portion and provided with a plurality of lamps and with a gear meshing with the ring gear on the guard portion, and a circuit including a terminal for each individual lamp and a battery terminal with which latter the lamp terminals may be selectively contacted by the relative rotation of the guard portion and the battery carrying portion.

2. In an electric lantern, the combination with an upper battery casing having an insulated terminal extending through its bottom and a lower guard portion, the latter and the casing being provided with complementary annular bearings upon which they may be rotated relatively and. thegua-rd portionembodying a ring gear fixed thereto, of a turret pivoted on the casing; bottom and embodying a gear meshing with the ring gear, said turret being provided with a plurality of lamp sockets having. individual terminals adapted to successively and selectively contact with the terminalon the casing bottom as the casing and the guard portion are rotated relatively, a ceiling plate within thev guard portion secured to, the casing bottom. to confine the ring gear and support the turret gear and tur-. ret, and a spacing element between the ceiling plate and the casing bottom to. permit running action of thegears.

3. An electric lantern constructed and functioning in accordance with claim 2 in which is further combined a. recess in the underside of the; battery casing around said terminal, and an insulating plate mounted in said recess. around said terminal, said insulating plate being substantially flush with the. bottom surface. of said terminal and with the bottom surface of said battery casing surrounding said recess.

4. Anelectric lantern constructed and functioning in accordance with claim 2 in which is further combined a bow spring anchored in the spacing element and forming a yielding stop with which the turret gear teeth engage. to center the bulb sockets in operative. and inoperative positions with respect to the battery casing terminal.

5. An electric lantern constructed and functioning in accordance with claim 2 in which is further combined a stop flange formed on the ceiling plate and a lateral dog on the turret engaging the stop flange to limit the relative rotary movement: of the battery casing and guard portion in both directions.

6'. In an electric lantern, the combination with a guard portion forming a base and a battery casing rotatable thereon, of a turret within the guard portion pivoted at one side of the axis of such rotation and provided with a series of bulb sockets movable, selectively, into such axis with the rotation of the turret, and gearing between the casing and guard portion and turret for turning the latter through the relative movement of the guard portion and easing.

7. In an electric lantern, the combination with a guard portion forming a base and a battery casing rotatable thereon and provided with .a centrally located battery terminal contact 10- catedin the axis of such movement, of a turret within the guard portion pivoted on thecasing at one side of the aforesaid axis and provided with a series of bulb sockets arranged concentrically of the turret pivot and movable, selectively, into the said axis with therotation of the turret, and gearing between the casing and guard portion and turret for driving the latter through the. relative movement of the guard portion and easing.

8. In an electric-lantern, the combination with a guard portion forming a base and a battery casing rotatable thereon and provided with a centrally located battery terminal contact located in the axis of such movement, of a turret within the guard portion pivoted on the casing at, one side of the aforesaid axis and provided with a series of bulb sockets arranged concentrically of the turret pivot and, movable, selectively, into the said axis with the rotation of the turret, gearing between the casing and guard portion and turret for driving the latter through the relative movement of the guard portion and easing, a stop device requiring the casing and guard portion to be reversed for further relative movement after a limited movement in either direction, and a yielding stop device for centering the turret with a given bulb either in or out of the said axis.

9. In an electric lantern, the combination with a. lower guard portion and an upper battery and carrying portion therefor rotatable on the guard portion, of a lamp within the guard portion, an electric circuit including movable switch means and the battery and lamp, and intermeshing gear means on the guard portion and the battery carrying portion, respectively, both bodily disposed in substantially the same horizontal plane transverse to the axis of relative rotation of the guard portion and the battery carrying portion and operated by the said relative rotary move ment of the battery carrying portion and guard portion for operating said switch means, the lamp being carried on one of said gear means.

10. An electric lantern in accordance with claim 9, in which one of said intermeshing gear means is concentric with the said axis of relative rotation of the guard portion and the battery carrying portion and the other is eccentric thereto and smaller than the other gear means to establish a differential rate of movement between the operation of the switch means and the relative rotation of the battery carrying portion and the guard portion, the lamp being carried on the said eccentric gear means.

11. An electric lantern in accordance with claim 10, in which the lamp is one of a plurality of lamps on the smaller eccentric gear means, and each is provided with an individual switch terminal selectively engaged with one on the battery terminal as the eccentric gear means is rotated.

CHESTER W. CRUMRINE. BERWIN W. JACOBS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,105,829 Plummer et a1 Aug. 4, 1914 1,802,145 Goodwin Apr. 21, 1931 2,244,895 Pixley June 10, 1941 2,245,707 Packer June 17, 1941 2,259,307 Herbold Oct. 14, 1941 2,274,932 Patche Mar. 3, 1942 2,300,304 Moxley Oct. 27, 1942 2,369,637 Baird Feb. 20, 1945 2,524,435 Emigh Oct. 3, 1950 

